diff --git a/src/main/persistence.test.ts b/src/main/persistence.test.ts
index 19383a5274d..2f8081757eb 100644
--- a/src/main/persistence.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/persistence.test.ts
@@ -433,6 +433,24 @@ describe('Store', () => {
     expect(store.getUI().sortBy).toBe('recent')
   })
 
+  it('uses recent as the default sort for a fresh install (no persisted sortBy)', async () => {
+    // Why: the legacy-recent→smart migration must gate on the *raw* persisted
+    // value, not the normalized default. Otherwise, changing the default sort
+    // to 'recent' would cause every fresh install to be mis-migrated to 'smart'.
+    writeDataFile({
+      schemaVersion: 1,
+      repos: [],
+      worktreeMeta: {},
+      settings: {},
+      ui: {},
+      githubCache: { pr: {}, issue: {} },
+      workspaceSession: {}
+    })
+
+    const store = await createStore()
+    expect(store.getUI().sortBy).toBe('recent')
+  })
+
   // ── terminalMacOptionAsAlt migration (issue #903) ───────────────────
 
   it('migrates legacy "true" terminalMacOptionAsAlt to "auto" on first load', async () => {
diff --git a/src/main/persistence.ts b/src/main/persistence.ts
index f663bd75ca7..6f7da5cf87b 100644
--- a/src/main/persistence.ts
+++ b/src/main/persistence.ts
@@ -156,9 +156,13 @@ export class Store {
           // Why: 'recent' used to mean the weighted smart sort. One-shot
           // migration moves it to 'smart'; the flag prevents re-firing after
           // a user intentionally selects the new last-activity 'recent' sort.
+          // Gate on the *raw* persisted value, not the normalized one: the
+          // default sortBy is now 'recent', so a fresh install with no
+          // persisted sortBy would otherwise be mis-migrated to 'smart'.
           ui: (() => {
-            const sort = normalizeSortBy(parsed.ui?.sortBy)
-            const migrate = !parsed.ui?._sortBySmartMigrated && sort === 'recent'
+            const rawSort = parsed.ui?.sortBy
+            const sort = normalizeSortBy(rawSort)
+            const migrate = !parsed.ui?._sortBySmartMigrated && rawSort === 'recent'
             return {
               ...defaults.ui,
               ...parsed.ui,
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/App.tsx b/src/renderer/src/App.tsx
index 35f6ac28cb1..634de343e1d 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/App.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/src/App.tsx
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ function App(): React.JSX.Element {
             sidebarWidth: 280,
             rightSidebarWidth: 350,
             groupBy: 'none',
-            sortBy: 'name',
+            sortBy: 'recent',
             showActiveOnly: false,
             filterRepoIds: [],
             collapsedGroups: [],
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/store/slices/ui.ts b/src/renderer/src/store/slices/ui.ts
index 4c87fcfe803..0888ebd0922 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/store/slices/ui.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/store/slices/ui.ts
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ export const createUISlice: StateCreator<AppState, [], [], UISlice> = (set, get)
     set({ groupBy: g, collapsedGroups: new Set<string>() })
   },
 
-  sortBy: 'name',
+  sortBy: 'recent',
   setSortBy: (s) => set({ sortBy: s }),
 
   showActiveOnly: false,
diff --git a/src/shared/constants.ts b/src/shared/constants.ts
index c076d70747c..04657a3bd04 100644
--- a/src/shared/constants.ts
+++ b/src/shared/constants.ts
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ export function getDefaultUIState(): PersistedUIState {
     sidebarWidth: 280,
     rightSidebarWidth: 350,
     groupBy: 'none',
-    sortBy: 'name',
+    sortBy: 'recent',
     showActiveOnly: false,
     filterRepoIds: [],
     collapsedGroups: [],